Rewilding for restoring key species and their ecological roles in a degraded ecosystem

We developed the Iberá Rewilding Program, aimed at
re-establishing sustainable populations of all locally extirpated
fauna. These reintroductions are mainly aimed to advance ecological restoration instead of individual species endangered recovery. Also, focusing in the restoration of key species which effect in the ecosystem is stronger, we guarantee the restoration of their role and the recovery of a healthy and balanced ecosystem
 

- Planning, feasibility assessments and permits

-Source of animals

- Quarantine phase and hand-rearing 

 -Pre-release phase

-Release of individuals

- Individuals monitoring

- Reintroduced population monitoring and demographic evaluation

- Demographic assessment

- Communication and program evaluation
 

We recognize two main organizational strengths that have
helped us to achieve our rewilding results in Iberá: the availability of large areas of high-quality and well-protected habitat for
released animals (some of which were owned and managed by us),
and the existence of long-term funding that allowed us to work
for more than 10 years. These advantages are not always available
to reintroduction projects, which usually face difficulties in habitat
and funding availability.
 

Creating Awareness about Marine Conservation in Palk Bay (2007 - 2022)

In 2007, a 600 km solo sea kayak was carried out along the coast of Tamil Nadu (southeast coast of India) for creating awareness about the conservation of local marine ecosystems including dugongs, seagrasses, coral reefs, and mangroves. In the following years, about 40000 people including school students, university students, fisherfolks, and government officials have attended our marine conservation awareness events in the last 15 years through folk music, school level awareness education programs, competitions, seminars, training, field trips, and distribution of awareness materials. This continuous awareness at the local and sub-national level has built rapport with the stakeholders for the rescue and release of dugongs, and mapping and restoration of seagrass beds.

  • Capacity building of staff and volunteers from the local community. 
  • We produced a large set of underwater photos and videos of seagrass habitats and dugongs from the local coast. 
  • We set up our marine education center called “Palk Bay Environmental Education Centre” in 2011.
  • We distributed more than 25000 awareness materials to the stakeholders in the last 15 years.  
  • We organized (seminars/training/camps/field trips) on nonprofit basis for school students, university students, fisherfolks as well as government officials. 

 

  •  Continuous efforts for a few years in nature conservation awareness can change the mindset and support from local stakeholders.

 

  • Producing our photos, and videos and sharing our field experience in dugong rescue, release, and seagrass restoration are important tools.

 

  • The capacity building of staff and volunteers from the local community helped to spread awareness for more than a decade continuously.

 

  • Setting up our marine education campus close to the target area (seagrass beach) is a major advantage, which gives direct exposure to the visitors.
Early Warning System

Through a fully functioning integrated health monitoring system for people, habitat and habituated apes and other wildlife, an early warning system was created. The aim is to detect prevalent diseases early and prevent its spreading within wildlife or human population through improved collaboration with public health and civil society actors. The Health monitoring system comprises:

Health condition of habituated gorillas are monitored daily. The Primate Habituation Programme was started by WWF back in 1997 and is one of the main pillars of the conservation work in Dzanga-Sangha ever since. Habituation has started in Campo Ma'an since 4 years. 

A variety of methods are used to investigate the spread of zoonotic pathogens in the natural habitat, such as collecting monthly faecal and urine samples from the gorillas and, less frequently, from mangabeys, collecting vectors such as carrion flies, and regularly taking swab and necropsy samples from carcasses. These are then analysed in the field laboratory.

Conservation and ecotourism employees and their families receive annual health checkups and vaccinations, and are closely monitored in suspected cases.

  • an operational field laboratory for the collection and analysis of samples from wildlife, 
  • continous health monitoring of the habituated gorillas; 
  • regular health monitoring of conservation and ecotourism staff and their families.

 

  • The long-term cooperation with RKI/HIOH has contributed to the professionalisation of the field laboratories through equipment, training and knowledge exchange.
  • Preventive health surveillance and the consideration of human, wildlife and habitat health within a One Health concept proved to be very effective in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. Quick and targeted intervention was possible.

  • Peer-to-peer training and knowledge exchange between the two sites has substantially improved performance in Campo Ma'an.

Effective management

In cooperation with Tsinghua University, Huangshan has developed a monitoring system covering various evaluation indicators of the three designations, issued monitoring reports every year, analyzed the work of the whole mountain and guided the future work plan.

We have improved our display and education system to make employees, communities and school students better understand the values and connections of UNESCO designations. We have launched various forms of educational activities, used our Wechat official account, geopark museum, interpretation boards, promotional materials and website to demonstrate the different values of Huangshan. 30 sessions of Huangshan Nature Lecture were held. 20 education articles about integrated management were published on Wechat account. Our English website and 40 interpretation boards were updated to include content about integrated management.

1. Support from partner university

2. Monitoring and education are the common goals of the three designations.

Monitoring reports need to be distributed to every department and exchanged to better support each other.

The use of the media is needed to publicize the work and achievements. This can not only show achievements but also attract more partners, bring more cooperation opportunities and expand influence.

Evaluation, dissemination, and effective conservation management.

Release management techniques, data collection, and the need for intervention are continuously being assessed to facilitate effective adaptive management on a day-to-day basis.

 

Dissemination of methods and results is an important tool to communicate to donors, attract new funding or stakeholder support, and increase awareness at a national and international level.

 

Monthly reports to project partners are published online at www.BirdsOnTheEdge.org in a reader-friendly format that engages with the public. As a result, the project has received funding, attracted post-graduate research, helped network with international practitioners and inspired other organizations.

 

Work is currently underway to analyze existing data, identify data gaps, and carry out research that will aid the development of a long-term management plan.

 

Durrell recently incorporated the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation into their strategic planning using Miradi software.

  • An existing organizational ethos to assess, plan, implement, evaluate, and disseminate projects.
  • A supportive network of people with a wide variety of skills.
  • Financial backing to set up, run, and develop online tools and resources.

This building block is ongoing and hard to review at present.

Context recognition

The recognition of the context and identification of problems and needs in environmental, social and political terms, was carried out through a planning space using playfulness and community participation where points of view were expressed about what affects the territory, culture and survival, consolidating an exercise of rights for inclusive citizen participation in which the values, customs, traditions and knowledge of indigenous and peasants who inhabit the Ramsar site were incorporated.

  • Visibilize the territory from its biological and cultural richness.
  • Participation of indigenous and peasant men and women leaders of the Ramsar EFI site in the activities of contextualization and prioritization of problems to be solved.
  • The joint contextualization of the territory, social, environmental and economic dynamics was an exercise that helped to identify and prioritize the environmental issues that would be worked on in the participatory process of the Citizen Action Forum at the Ramsar EFI site.
  • The collaborative processes between stakeholders of the territory contributed to have different views of a context and contribute to creativity in the search for solutions to conflicts in the territory.
  • Strengthening and installation of local capacity for future processes.
  • Community leaders learned and adopted other perspectives to visualize the territory, its context and problems, adding political, economic and biological elements and understanding how by integrating other knowledge they can better understand the search for shared solutions.
Policy Frameworks in the Scope of Transitioning to Low Carbon Sea Transport in the Marshall Islands

The national fleet of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) highly depends on imported fuels and is therefore a significant source of GHG-emissions. The bilateral program “Transitioning to Low Carbon Sea Transport (LCST)” implemented by RMI and the Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) aims at supporting the RMI Government´s planning and decision-making processes with respect to its low carbon future and the reduction of GHG-emissions from domestic sea transport, through consultancy, research, training, coordination of policy support to RMI and supporting in delivering RMI’s commitments under UNFCCC to achieve reduced GHG emissions from domestic shipping 40% below 2010 levels by 2030 and full decarbonization by 2050.

The Marshallese Government founded and is an active member of the High Ambition Coaltion for Shipping (SHAC) at IMO and UNFCCC and due to their ambition, the group of supporters of an ambitious contribution of sea transport to the climate goals is growing. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, international meetings and high-level conferences are taking place remotely to a high extend.

The development and facilitation of capacity development under the LCST project has the aim to enhance knowledge of IMO structures and ways to contribute to high-level forums and negotiations such as UNFCCC for different ministries in RMI. RMI plays a key role in securing ambitious goals and climate leadership continously develops with the support of partners to RMI. Through workshops, support on negotiation techniques and media outreach, visibility and recognition is increased and RMI's voice heard on the international stage. 

Together with Independent Diplomat, the project supports the RMI Government in actively participating at high-level policy negotiations and conferences such as the High Ambition Coalition and the IMO.

Developing distance learning resources, presentations and briefs on climate mitigation in shipping to provide an overview of air emissions and climate change issues in maritime transport are highly important

Developing international responses and frameworks to climate change by the shipping sector and delivering web-based information sessions on climate mitigation in shipping and maritime transport help to facilitate workshops in the region and other SIDS.

Highlighting past and on-going IMO activities and the wider industry equip partners with knowledge of relevant debates leading to the adoption and implementation of positions, strategies and declarations in international high-level forums. 

 

Sustainable Sea Transport inside the lagoon and between atolls of the Marshall Islands

Ri Majol, the people of the Marshall Islands were known for their superior boat building and sailing skills for centuries. They traveled frequently between their atolls (for trade and war) on big offshore canoes called Walap (some of them 100ft long). The lagoons of their low-lying coral atolls where crested by sails of smaller outrigger canoe designs for rapid inside lagoon transportation, food gathering and fishing. Together with Waan Aelõñ in Majel, we are reviving the traditional knowlege combined with modern technology. The ambitious goals of the Marshall Islands in the sea transport sector have become the main driver and motivation for us to pursue and to transition towards a low carbon fleet for the Marshall Islands for transport inside the lagoons and between atolls. Currently, a 150 ft. Training Vessel is about to be constructed and delivered to RMI by the 2nd half of 2022. After the agreement of the design, the market survey process started with the objection to identify shipyards that are interested and capable of building the new built as drafted in the tender design. The Maritime Training Approach in the Marshall Islands sets a clear focus on Low Emission Sea Transport Education and will train future sailors as part of the national fleet operators.

 

Today, the traditional outrigger canoe designs are not in use for inter-atoll voyages in RMI anymore. The traditional inter atoll voyages stopped and none of the traditional inter-atoll canoes (Walap) survived till today. Nowadays, offshore transport tasks are mainly carried out by the government owned Marshall Island Shipping Corporation (MISC) and private contractors with conventional monohull freighters with motorized engines causing emissions and impact on climate change.

The charter of SV Kwai - a sailing cargo vessel - in the time period from September to end of December 2020 showed how essential training is in the revitalization of sailing rigged ships that make the way open for a low emission transportation set up in RMI in the future. Sailing trainings took place on SV Kwai for the first time with participants already enlisted by MISC. The training was held with the intention of sailing within the lagoon of Majuro. The aim was to educate on Kwai operations under sail and to train the MISC crew hands on alongside the SV Kwai crew from Kiribati, USA and Australia. An assessment meeting took place after the training to capture the positive outcomes and summarize improvements for upcoming trainings in the future. The trainings already provided a first indication of training needs for the maritime sector in RMI.

The conservation of the charapa turtle and its importance for the indigenous peoples of PANI

The charapa (Podocnemis expansa) in the indigenous cosmovision is related to the origin of the people, especially the Miraña, they say that an ancestral god gave them to the grandchildren to feed them. In addition, it has healing powers that are associated with the ecosystems that the species uses to carry out its reproduction, that is why the charapa is present in their dances and rites. Its consumption is allowed under regulations contemplated in a cyclical calendar that mixes ecology and conservation with the indigenous cosmovision and that establishes management, because if they abuse its consumption, diseases are attracted to the territory. The conservation of the charapa is a successful result and has been achieved thanks to community monitoring coordinated by PNN and PANI. The community has been sensitized and use agreements have been made to ensure that the turtle population is maintained or increased. This work has allowed the participation of one of its indigenous people in an exchange of experiences with ongoing projects in Colombia and other countries, as well as their participation in a scientific article published by several South American authors.

The turtle monitoring is implemented by the indigenous community, where entire families work in these special protection zones, doing citizen science exercises and helping in the research of the species. The results of these 5 years of monitoring are obvious, there is a very important scientific-environmental and cultural component, the postures are monitored, the adults and in times of high water, the sites where the turtles perform other activities related to feeding are monitored.

Being a community work, charapa monitoring has helped to structure PANI's governance system, since it has allowed them to strengthen themselves, has generated a very important reference that has led to neighboring indigenous communities requesting to be linked to the exercise, to be socialized and taught about the subject and to be included so that they can carry out similar exercises. Therefore, the exercise has grown and expanded, creating a biological corridor for the conservation of the species.

Exchange network

The platform brought together 73 experiences associated with Sustainable Forest Management, of which 70% have been developed in the Colombian Amazon, 25% in other territories of the country and 5% are international experiences and that according to their intervention are located in one of the categories of ExpoBosques:1) Human Welfare and Governance, 2) Digital Tools, 3) Forestry Extension and Financing, 4) Forest Management and Ecosystem Services and 5) Value Addition and Commercialization.This allowed the creation of an exchange network that promotes replication, especially in the Amazon.

The willingness of the entities, communities, institutions and companies to share the successes, challenges and impacts of their experiences and to participate in the exchange, made it possible to replicate new knowledge in a practical way.

The exchange through a mobile application, allowed the creation of this exchange network despite the effects of the pandemic and allowed to join efforts aimed at the protection and conservation of the Amazon, also gives visibility to organizations and rural associations that carry out activities for sustainable forest management, which can promote the replication of the experiences of greatest interest.Throughout ExpoBosques, more than 3,000 interactions took place between participants and exhibitors and more than 6,000 experiences were made visible in the different forums open to the public.